Electrically illuminated jewelry

ABSTRACT

The present invention is an improvement in electrically illuminated jewelry which may be worn on the clothing. The basic form of the invention consists of three parts (1) the lighted ornament itself, (2) a battery container including batteries and (3) a catch. The ornament houses the lamp(s) and has at its rear two pointed studs which pierce the clothing, each stud providing an electrical connection to the lamp(s). The battery case is normally used behind the clothing upon which the ornament is worn, and has leads which engage the two pointed studs which pierce the clothing. The catch engages one of the pointed studs thereby locking together the battery case, the ornament and the section of clothing upon which the ornament is used.

United States Patent 1191 Roth [ ELECTRICALLY ILLUMINATED JEWELRY [76]Inventor: Alexander Roth, 53 Clifford Rd.,

Sudbury, Mass. 01776 [22] Filed: Feb. 12, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 331,533

[52] US. Cl. 240/6.4 W, 240/10 R, 240/59, 339/11 [51] Int. Cl F2lv33/00, F2lv 21/00 [58] Field of Search 240/64 W, 6.4, 2, 10.5, 240/59,10; 339/11, 176 L [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,271,3907/1918 Thomas 240/6.4 W 2,733,302 1/1956 Geib et a1. 339/11 X 3,233,2071/1966 Ahroni et a1. 339/176 L 3,527,933 9/1970 Thummel 240/2 R FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 16,865 11/1916 Great Britain 1. 240/6.4 R

[ June 18, 1974 Primary Examiner-Robert P. Greiner [5 7] ABSTRACT Thepresent invention is an improvement in-electrically illuminated jewelrywhich may be worn on the clothing. The basic form of the inventionconsists of three parts (1) the lighted ornament itself, (2) a batterycontainer including batteries and (3) a catch. The ornament houses thelamp(s) and has at its rear two pointed studs which pierce the clothing,each stud providing an electrical connection to the lamp(s). The batterycase is normally used behind the clothing upon which the ornament isworn, and has leads which engage the two pointed studs which pierce theclothing. The catch engages one of the pointed studs thereby lockingtogether the battery case, the ornament and the section of clothing uponwhich the ornament is used.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures ELECTRICALLY ILLUMINATED JEWELRY The presentinvention relates to illuminated jewelry ornaments which may be worn onthe person, on the clothing or as a necktie ornament commonly known as atie tac.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide very long batterylife through the application of low current drain solid state lightsources, one type of which is known commonly as a light emitting diode,to illuminated jewelry ornaments.

A further object of this invention is the mechanical and structuralsimplification resulting from the elimination of the necessity ofemploying switches or other means of circuit interruption due to theinherently long battery life associated with the use of said low currentdrain light emitting diodes.

An additional ofject of the present invention is the elimination oflengthy connecting wires between the battery supply and the ornament.

An additional object of the present invention is the achievement of asimple and fast connect and disconnect means between the ornament andthe battery.

An additional object is the elimination of the need for bulb replacementthrough the use of said light emitting diodes which feature indefinitelylong lifetimes.

An important feature of the present invention is the extremely simpleremoval and emplacement of the ornament and ease of separability of theornament from the battery supply.

Accordingly, these characteristics are realized in the present inventionwhich consists of an illuminated ornament and a spearate batterycompartment designed to connect directly to and be supported bytwopointed studs protruding from the ornament. The battery containernormally engages the studs behind a portion of the clothing pierced bythe studs.

Although the following description is based for simplicity on anornament with one light source the scope of this invention is notlimited to any number of lamps.

The above objects and features, as well as others, of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionand accompanying drawing in which:

-FIG. l is a side view of an embodiment of the ornament showing detailsof its structure.

FIG. 2 shows the relationship of the battery supply to the ornament andhow it is typically worn.

The normally observed part of the ornament consists of a base 1 and alamp 2 affixed to the base. The base 1 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as arounded rectangle although it would ordinarily have any ornamental shapeor size desired with one or several lamps artfully located. The pointedstud 3 is connected to one of the 2 connecting leads from the lamp at 4and is bonded at 5 with an insulating support material. A hole in thebase at 6 admits either the lamp base or the lamp connecting leads. Asecond stud at 7 is supported directly by the base 1 and is electricallyconnected to the second lamp connecting lead at 8. Although lamps withtwo leads are described herein, this invention also encompasses the useof lamps with one lead in which a second connection is made through themetallic body of the lamp directly into supporting base 1.

Electrical current for the lamp is supplied by one or more batteries 9either disposable or rechargeable which are snapped into a batterycontainer 10 which serves to compactly connect the batteries toconnecting leads 11 and 12 which engage ornament studs 3 and 7respectively. Loops at 13 may be used as springs'to ensure wire pressurefor a tight connection although any type of connecting means usable withthe context of this invention as, but not limited to, a small clip, orsleeve, or coil, or helix or press-on tab may be substituted at thepoint of engagement.

A current limiting means consisting of a resistor in series with thebatteries is shown at 14 for the cases where the type of lamp requireslimited current. Current limiting may be achieved in various waysincluding the use of a fixed or a variable resistor in series with thebattery/lamp circuit.

The value of the resistor chosen, hence the current drawn has an effecton the light intensity and the battery life. By way of example only, a470 ohm resistor with two 1% volt batteries and a 1% volt lamp will provide a suitable light intensity for about 200 hours from AAA size cells.For the last several hours of use, the user may short circuit theresistor by such means as a piece of aluminum foil placed in the thebattery case to get increased lamp intensity. Different values ofcurrent may be established consistent with different luminosities andbattery lifetimes.

The size and shape of the batteries and the case and the leads are byway of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of thisinvention.

Although the current limiting means is shown on the battery, it may beincluded anywhere in the circuit or even as part of the lamp orornament.

The studs 3 and 7 are normally unequal in length, the longer one, inthis case 3, is designed to engage a catch mechanism 15. The catch 15may be equivalent to standard tie-tac catches and may or may not have anassociated chain 16.

The ornament is normally worn with the base 1 and lamp 2 outside of theclothing with studs 3 and 7 pierced through the garment 17. Thebatteries 9 and case 10 are within the garment with the connecting leads11 and 12 engaging studs 3 and 7 and completely supported by them. Thestuds 3 and 7 may then penetrate additional layers 18 of material beforeengaging catch 15 to stud 3. The multiple penetrations representapplication of the ornament as a tie tac whereby the batteries are thuslocated within the large tube of the neck tie, and the studs are piercedthrough both tubes of the neck tie, as is normally the case, beforeengaging the catch. Another example of use of the ornament is on ajacket or a sweater with the batteries and catch located directly behinda layer or layers of material.

Having thus described this invention with but one embodiment illustratedand described, it will be apparem to those skilled in the art thatvarious departures may be implemented while remaining within the spiritand scope of this invention and the following claim.

I claim:

1. An illuminated jewelry ornament intended for wearing on the personconsisting of a suitable ornament, a light source attached to theornament, two pointed studs affixed to the ornament insulated from eachother providing an electrical connection to the light source, said studsdesigned to pierce clothing, a separate battery unit consisting of abattery holder and two connecting leads fixed to the holder for engagingthe studs to provide an electrical path from the battery to the lightsource, a fixed current limiting means at separate battery unitconsisting of a battery holder and two connecting leads fixed to theholder for engaging the studs to provide an electrical path from thebattery to the light source, a variable current limiting means at somepoint in series with the circuit, and a catch mechanism to engage one ofsaid pointed studs for the purpose of securing it to the clothing and toone of the battery holder leads,

1. An illuminated jewelry ornament intended for wearing on the personconsisting of a suitable ornament, a light source attached to theornament, two pointed studs affixed to the ornament insulated from eachother providing an electrical connection to the light source, said studsdesigned to pierce clothing, a separate battery unit consisting of abattery holder and two connecting leads fixed to the holder for engagingthe studs to provide an electrical path from the battery to the lightsource, A fixed current limiting means at some point in series with thecircuit, and a catch mechanism to engage one of said pointed studs forthe purpose of securing it to the clothing and to one of the batteryholder leads.
 2. An illuminated jewelry ornament intended for wearing onthe person consisting of a suitable ornament, a light source attached tothe ornament, two pointed studs affixed to the ornament insulated fromeach other providing an electrical connection to the light source, saidstuds designed to pierce clothing, a separate battery unit consisting ofa battery holder and two connecting leads fixed to the holder forengaging the studs to provide an electrical path from the battery to thelight source, a variable current limiting means at some point in serieswith the circuit, and a catch mechanism to engage one of said pointedstuds for the purpose of securing it to the clothing and to one of thebattery holder leads.